19 year old from Czech Republic wins from 5-man breakaway. Pogacar keeps the lead ahead of tomorrow’s summit finish atop Jebel Hafeet, the final stage of the UAE Tour.
Expo 2020 Dubai, 25 February 2022 – For the first time in the history of the UAE Tour and its predecessors Dubai Tour and Abu Dhabi Tour, a stage winner emerged from a small breakaway group on a flat stage. Czech rider Mathias Vacek, 19, became the youngest ever cyclist to triumph in this event. He rode away from the peloton from the off, along with his teammates Pavel Kotchekov and Dmitrii Strakhov, as well as Paul Lapeira and Alessandro Tonelli. The peloton reacted too late and never managed to catch the group before they reached the site of the Expo 2020 Dubai, where the riders were welcomed with style. It was a big disappointment for the sprinters, but not for Tadej Pogacar, who crossed the line safely, ahead of the queen stage to Jebel Hafeet tomorrow – the final stage of the UAE Tour.
The fourth and last flat stage of the race traversed 180 km through the Dubai metropolitan area and concluded on Palm Jumeirah Island. A breakaway group went clear from the peloton early in the race and with a few kilometres remaining, they still had a one-minute lead. Patrick Konrad joined the chase at the head of the peloton, but the field was ultimately unable to reel in the leaders. The escapees fought out the victory among themselves, while all BORA-hansgrohe riders reached the finish in the group behind. Aleksandr Vlasov will head into tomorrow’s final stage in third place overall.
Result
01 M. Vacek 3:58:10
02 L. Lapeira +0:00
03 E. Strakhov +0:00
